The skyline of Europa-Park from our resort balcony

Upon arriving at Europa-Park, Mack Rides’ flagship theme park in Rust, Germany, you are met with a stunning skyline of steel and wooden coasters. The high efficiency of their ride operations mean near constant flashes of coaster trains whooshing around you in all directions. Visually, it is a buffet, and one that you never get tired of enjoying. However, from our three days spent at the park this summer, the lasting memory I will carry of Europa-Park is rooted in something deeper than the show floor of roller coaster innovation.

Tucked away in nearly every corner of the park, residing in bottom floors of grander attractions or underneath of walking paths are numerous small, simple, and frankly… weird little dark rides that give Europa-Park a small-scale charm that many roller coaster heavy parks lack.

Madame Freudenreich Curiosities

One of the first major areas that you encounter after entering the park is the France section, which opens up to reveal a spectacular fountain lined town center. The headliner of this land is held within a very familiar looking geodesic dome, the recently re-tracked Eurosat CanCan Coaster. This ride consistently had one of the longer lines in the park, and drew in a lot of people with its enticing show building. In an area so densely populated, you would imagine that any ride nearby would also post lengthy wait times. However, existing in what I believe to be the bottom floor of the Eurosat gravity building, only twenty or so feet away from CanCan’s busy entrance, was a consistently walk-on attraction that delighted us to no end. Madame Freudenreich Curiosities.

The inconspicuous entrance façade of Madame Freudenreich Curiosities

It’s hard to believe that under one of the park's most popular coasters is an easy going omnimover that reveals a garden birthday party where all of the guests are mischievous dinosaurs. This ride is jam packed with lovingly crafted dino animatronics of varying complexity, a host of fun smells to accompany the enjoyable show scenes, an original and impactful score, and a finale that reveals a very impressive animatronic of the Madame herself, our host throughout the attraction.

The CanCan coaster, French bistros, fountain lined pathways, all of these make sense for a France inspired land. Madame Freudenreich, however, seems to follow the David S. Pumpkins mentality of being her own thing, man, and that’s just perfect.

Abenteuer Atlantis

Over in the Croatia land, the state of the art roller coaster Voltron Nevera is without question an instant classic. Just one ride catapulted it up my rankings, with repeat rides only adding to my appreciation for this technological marvel of a coaster. Multiple launches, inversions, turntables, drop tracks, special effects, you name it Voltron has it. However, mere footsteps away from Nikola Tesla and his experiments with the Wardenclyffe Towers is the home of another lesser known scientist. This is where Professor Carter brings you along on his quest to discover the lost city of Atlantis on Abenteuer Atlantis.

Abenteuer Atlantis courtesy of darkridedatabase.com

This is an interactive shooting ride, a common sight at many parks around the world, that is elevated by an unnecessarily dense mythology (meant as a compliment). The professor takes you on an underwater journey, battling a multitude of very large practical creatures along the way.

Snorri Touren

Over in Scandinavia, situated near the grand Fjord-Rafting attraction and Blue Fire Megacoaster was an attraction entrance that would almost be missed or mistaken for a small shop if you aren’t specifically looking for it. This ride, called Snorri Touren, may have been one of the most pleasant surprises of our trip.

An animatronic of Snorri ripping a drum solo

The ride follows the adventures of an octopus named Snorri, who takes us to visit his home of Rulantica (also the name of the water park). The ride features colorful, well crafted show scenes and a genuinely fantastic soundtrack. There is a mixture of digital and practical theming, culminating in a shocking twist where your ride vehicle enters a Rise of the Resistance style ride simulator bay. I can not emphasize enough how unassuming the facade for this attraction is compared to the experience that awaits you underground.

Sleigh Ride Snowflake

Sitting in the shadow of the prototype spinning coaster Euromir in the Russian area of the park is the It’s A Small World/Frozen hybrid Sleigh Ride Snowflake. It is a waking nightmare from which I may never recover.

This list only scratches the surface of experiences Europa-Park has to offer. There are true show stopping dark rides like Pirates in Batavia, which I believe surpasses its obvious inspiration Pirates of the Caribbean in many ways. Elsewhere you can find a small fairy kingdom in “Elf Ride”, go on a road trip adventure with Jim Button, experience a cartoon version of Italy inhabited by animals in Piccolo Mondo, or explore the vast Grimm’s Forest.

Why It’s Important…

The abundance of charming smaller scale experiences left me with such a conflicted feeling. It seems as though here in the US you get a choice. Do you want dark rides or do you want roller coasters? Europa-Park firmly cemented in my mind that we should be asking “Why not both”? Why can’t Pantheon have a small, inexpensive Omnimover attraction that introduces us to the Roman Gods from the ride? Why can’t Great Bear have a whimsical little journey through the woods where you meet the “Great Bear” face to face? Europa-Park has realized something very special. Roller coasters give the park its thrills, they give the park its big international draw, but the weird little dark rides are what give the park its heart.